Getting Around

Perth’s public transport system, Transperth offers bus, train and ferry services. You can plan your journey on the Transperth website

If you have a smartphone with Google Maps you can also enter your destination and it will tell you which bus or train to catch.

CAT Buses

CATs are free, high frequency bus services that operate in the Perth Central Business District (CBD) or city centre as we would say. To make it easier for you to work out which bus to take, all CATs are colour coded as follows:

The Red Cat travels in an East-West loop from Queens Gardens in East Perth to Outram St in West Perth

The Blue CAT travels in a North-South loop from the Barrack St Jetty to Northbridge

The Yellow CAT operates in a loop from East Perth to West Perth.

The Green CAT operates between Leederville Station and the Esplanade Busport via City West Station, West Perth and St Georges Terrace

If you’re planning to do a lot of traveling on public transport in Perth your best bet is to pick up a SmartRider card. A SmartRider is a card that enables you to use any Transperth bus, train or ferry service with ease. You simply add value to the card and then ‘tag on’ and ‘tag off’ each time you travel on a Transperth service and the SmartRider does the rest for you, calculating precisely how far you have travelled and deducting the correct fare value of each journey from the balance on the card. That means no more worrying about having the correct change on you or waiting in queues to buy a ticket. For further information click here

Making Friends

Moving to the other side of the world can be a daunting experience, but Perth has many newcomers to the city each week in similar circumstances.

Meetup is a great website for meeting people with similar interests. There are lots of groups to join in Perth from book clubs to cycling groups.

There is a huge vibrant Irish community in Perth with lots of cultural, sporting or community organisations to join, see Appendix Two.

Irish Families in Perth is a Facebook group for Irish families/Irish Australian Families in Perth to make contact and discuss issues about relocating and settling in. The group was set up in September 2011 to help Irish families, especially young families who may have no support network, to connect and support each other. The group holds a regular playgroup and other social events.

Numerous local based Facebook pages give details of “what’s on” in your local area and also check your local Shire website for free family and community events. Local libraries will list story-time, toy library, baby rhyme time, etc. for young children.

100 Points of ID

You may be asked to provide 100 points check across many industries, the reasoning for this is to verify your identity.

To give you an idea when you may come across this:

Police Check

Opening up a Bank Account

Purchasing a Mobile Phone or a SIM card

Applying for Rental accommodation

Applying for WA age card

Applying for Driving license

The general rule of thumb is that Primary documents will be 70 point & Secondary ID can range from 25-40 points depending what you are being identified for.

In some instances you may be asked to have your documents certified. There are many people from a broad range of professions who can certify your documents. A list of these persons will be outlined to you when asked.

Primary ID

Valid Passport

Birth Certificate

Australian Citizenship Certificate

Secondary ID

Credit card / debit card

Australian driver’s license

Proof of age card

Medicare card

Bill with current address

Marriage certificate

Proof of age card

A proof of age card provides anyone over the age of 18 years with a recognised form of personal identification. The proof of age card is designed primarily for accessing into licensed premises.

This card can be obtained from the Department of Transport at a Driver & Vehicle Services Centre in person. A list of the centres can be found here. You will need to complete an application form, pay the $25 fee and provide one primary and one secondary ID – one of which must contain your signature. Your photo will be taken at the centre and then the card will be posted to your home address and can take up to 5- 10 working days.

Alcohol Laws and Night Life

In Perth, alcohol laws are controlled by the Liquor Control Act 1988 which regulates how alcohol is sold, supplied and consumed. The legal drinking age across Australia is 18 years old. People under the age of 18 are not allowed to purchase, supply or consume alcohol on licensed or regulated premises, even if they are with their parents. It’s also illegal to sell alcohol to, or purchase it for anyone under the age of 18 years. The maximum penalty for breaking these laws is a hefty $2000 fine.

In WA, alcohol laws only allow the following forms of identification as legally accepted proof-of-age in licensed premises:

Current Australian driver’s licence with photograph

Current passport

Current Western Australian Proof-of-Age card

Your Irish Driver’s License will not be accepted as a form of ID. Many of the bars in Perth use an ID scanning system to record and verify patrons’ identities when they enter their premises. This means every person wishing to enter must produce one of the above IDs; if you don’t have the correct ID there will be no entry.

Entry into licensed premises may be refused for reasons such as drunkenness, disorderly behaviour, unacceptable dress, false or insufficient photo identification relating to suspected juveniles, or being underage.

It is an offence under Western Australian alcohol laws for persons of any age to drink in public, such as on the street, park or beach. If you get caught, you could face a maximum penalty of $2,000 or be slapped with a $200 on the spot fine.